The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it would immediately lift its suspension of military aid to Ukraine and its intelligence sharing with Kyiv.
It came more than a week after the US imposed the measures to push Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to enter talks to end the war with invading Russian forces.
The announcement came at talks between Ukraine and the United States in Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine also said it was open to a 30-day ceasefire in the war with Russia, subject to Kremlin agreement.
The announcements emerged as senior officials from Ukraine and the United States opened talks in Saudi Arabia focused on ending Moscow’s three-year war against Kyiv and hours after Russia shot down more than 300 Ukrainian drones.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Ukrainian Head of Presidential Office Andriy Yermak and Ukrainian Minister of Defence Rustem Umerovto during the meeting with US officials (Saul Loeb/Pool Photo via AP)
It was Ukraine’s biggest attack since the Kremlin ordered the full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to travel later this week to Moscow, where he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to a person familiar with the matter but not authorised to comment publicly.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin.
“We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,” Mr Rubio said.
Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak earlier told reporters that the most important thing was “how to achieve a just and lasting peace in Ukraine”.
He said security guarantees were important to prevent Russia from invading again in the future.
It was the first meeting between the two sides since the Oval Office argument between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky last month.
Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister was also on hand as American, Saudi and Ukrainian flags could be seen in the background. Officials did not answer any of the journalists’ shouted questions.
The delegations met for about three hours in the morning before taking a break, and officials said the talks continued in the afternoon.
There was also no immediate comment from Ukrainian or US officials on the massive attack in which 343 drones targeted 10 Russian regions, leaving three people dead and 18 wounded, including three children, officials said.
Meanwhile, Russia launched 126 drones and a ballistic missile at Ukraine, the Ukrainian air force said, as part of Moscow’s relentless pounding of civilian areas during the war.
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the United States will inform Russia about the results of the Jeddah talks, which he described as “normal practice”.
On the streets of Kyiv, Ukrainians kept an eye on the Saudi talks.
Lena Herasymenko, a psychologist, said she accepts that compromises will be necessary to end the war, but she said they must be “reasonable”.
“We had massive losses during this war, and we don’t know yet how much more we’ll have,” she told The Associated Press. “We are suffering every day. Our kids are suffering, and we don’t know how the future generation will be affected.”
Oleksandr, a Ukrainian soldier who could give only his first name because of security restrictions, warned that Ukraine cannot let down its guard down.
“If there is a ceasefire, it would only give Russia time to increase its firepower, manpower, missiles and other arms. Then they would attack Ukraine again,” he said.
The meeting in Jeddah offered an opportunity for Kyiv officials to repair Ukraine’s relationship with the Trump administration after an unprecedented argument erupted during Mr Zelensky’s February 28 visit to the White House.
Ukrainian officials told AP on Monday that they will propose a ceasefire covering the Black Sea, which would bring safer shipping, as well as long-range missile strikes that have hit civilians in Ukraine, and the release of prisoners.
The two senior officials said Kyiv is also ready to sign an agreement with the United States on access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals – a deal that Mr Trump is keen to secure.
The Kremlin has not publicly offered any concessions. Russia has said it is ready to cease hostilities on condition that Ukraine drops its bid to join Nato and recognises regions that Moscow occupies as Russian. Russia has captured nearly a fifth of Ukraine’s territory.
Russian forces have held the battlefield momentum for more than a year, though at a high cost in infantry and armour, and are pushing at selected points along the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line, especially in the eastern Donetsk region, against Ukraine’s understrength and weary army.